MANILA – With reports that China may sabotage next year’s national elections due to the ongoing territorial disputes, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has taken precautionary measures to guarantee the success of the automated polls.

Comelec Commissioner Christian Lim then opted to transfer the manufacturing site of 93,000 optical mark readers (OMRs) to Taiwan from China, believing that the latter may be a threat in the coming general elections.

“I also want to emphasize that the move to Taiwan was a product of the contract negotiations because we have received intelligence reports that there may be an attempt to sabotage the elections by China,” Lim told the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms.

“The commission made it non-negotiable that the provider would have to transfer the facilities to Taiwan at their expense,” he added.

Taking into consideration the Philippines’ current arbitration case filed against China in a United Nations (UN) tribunal, Lim took the reports from military sources seriously.

“We are concerned that as a result, if any, of the arbitration that it may have an effect… I feel personally that the biggest threat to the 2016 elections is China.”

The Chinese government, for its part, dismissed allegations of a possible election sabotage.